Freecycle offers users something for nothing

Published 1:00 am, Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Tree huggers do it because it helps the environment. Frat boys do it to snag stuff for dorm rooms. Bargain hunters do it because it's the best deal out there.

It is Freecycling, a movement that proves there is such a thing as a free lunch - on the Internet, at least.

Freecycle members use Yahoo message boards to post items they want to get rid of or get ahold of.

Nothing is for sale. Everything is free.

What started as an idea to keep junk from clogging landfills has grown into an online group that spans 30 countries with almost 600,000 members.

"It's taken on a life of its own," said
Deron Beal
, the 36-year-old Arizona man who launched Freecycle.org on a lark last year.

The groups get the occasional loose cannon, like a guy out West searching for magnets for his time machine.

More often, however, the groups are like Freecycle Danbury, which launched in June. It has 236 members.

"It's growing very fast," said
Marilyn Brownjohn
of Bethel, who founded the Danbury chapter and is the group's moderator.

As moderator, Brownjohn approves members, who are permitted to post messages on the group's message board. Brownjohn's main job is to make sure spammers don't take over, a constant battle in the land of Internet message boards.

"The basic rules are that (the posting) has to be legal, family-friendly and appropriate for all ages," Brownjohn said. Members are also prohibited from talking politics.

Givers and receivers contact each other through e-mail. Some people meet to give away goods or simply leave the items outside their house.

Things available on Freecycle Danbury last week included a television stand from someone in Ridgefield. Someone in Newtown was giving away a StairMaster.

Another person, parts unknown, offered an old couch and a promise: "No holes or stains."

Meanwhile, people searched for Christmas decorations, storage shelves, "kitchen things," even a refrigerator.

The variety of stuff available on Freecycle is impressive, but don't get the wrong idea. People aren't giving away McMansions or trips to the Caribbean.

"There's exercise equipment. There's car parts, furniture, clothing, toys, a lot of baby goods. I've even seen lawn mowers on there," said Brownjohn, who has given away a paper shredder and exercise equipment. She has picked up a wooden storage shelf and a nearly new air conditioner.

"Somebody was moving and they had no reason for it, which was great because we desperately needed one for my kids," she said.

Nancy Kitik
, of Kent, joined Freecycle Danbury in August after her mother told her about it. Kitik traveled to Putnam County, N.Y., about a month ago to pick up a wood burning boiler.

"You never realize what cool stuff people have," Kitik said.

Deborah Tobias
of Bethel joined Freecycle about a month ago. Her cell phone was broken and she didn't want to spend $300 on a new one. After posting on Freecycle Danbury, she had a slew of e-mails from people offering her old cell phones.

"I've been telling everybody about it but no one seems to believe me," Tobias said. "They don't think it's free. They think there has to be a catch."

The first Freecycle group started in 2003 in Arizona. Beal, the founder, works for a not-for-profit company in charge of recycling efforts for the city of Tucson.

He thought perfectly good things such as computers and furniture were being wasted by being thrown into landfills. He started a small e-mail group for people to give away things they didn't need anymore. It was his small way of helping the environment.

Now it's everywhere.

"It's amazing to me. It's become like this pay-it-forward movement," Beal said.

Back in Connecticut, Wren Farnsworth said she loves Freecycle's activist appeal. "I'm a hippie from way back and we're all sick of these land fills," she said. "Freecycle is about stuff not getting wasted. It's about things that are useful, but not necessarily to the person who has it."

Beal said Freecycle groups are getting more organized and active. After Florida was rocked by a series of hurricanes earlier this year, Freecycle groups collected and distributed items needed by people left homeless from the storms.

The groups are becoming close-knit communities, Beal said.

"It's different than charity, where the haves give to the have nots," he said. "Here, everybody is giving to everybody."

"It's also random acts of kindness," Brownjohn said. "People being generous to each other for no reason. I don't think there is enough good things going on these days. Hopefully, this will encourage people."

To join Freecycle Danbury, go to
www.freecycle.org
. Click on "US Northeast," then click on either "go to" or "join" Danbury. Potential members must provide an e-mail address and requests to join must be approved by the group's moderator.